Apple Gourd group making plans for new planting year

One year ago, a group of volunteers and families from the Redwood area, planted, weeded, watered and harvested a garden that resulted in nearly 900 pounds of food; those who made it happen last season are hoping to improve on that yield this year.

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By Troy KrauseEditor

Redwood Falls Gazette

By Troy KrauseEditor

Posted Apr. 29, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By Troy KrauseEditor

Posted Apr. 29, 2014 at 12:01 AM

One year ago, a group of volunteers and families from the Redwood area, planted, weeded, watered and harvested a garden that resulted in nearly 900 pounds of food. Those who made it happen last season are hoping to improve on that yield this year. What is known as the Apple Gourd Project group met recently to talk about its plan for the coming year and to help families involved in the program learn more about how to improve on their own nutrition. Those families are going to be very involved with the garden again this year.

According to Michelle Wacek, site manager for the Apple Gourd garden, each family who is involved in the project must commit to working two to four hours per week in the garden doing everything from planting and weeding to watering and harvesting. “It’s a blast to be out there,” said Wacek, admitting she doesn’t consider gardening to be work. “I encourage you to bring the kids along. It’s OK for them to get involved and get dirty.” For those who have younger children who may not understand the gardening concept, there is a natural play space available for them to enjoy, and according to Teri Smith, who helped to develop the Apple Gourd project, that play space is going to be enhanced this year with some water features for the kids. “This is a community project,” said Michelle Breidenbach, one of the project coordinators. “We are that community.” Breidenbach said there is always a need for more volunteers to help with the project, and families who would like to get involved with Apple Gourd are encouraged to do that. She added people who have an interest can visit the Apple Gourd Face-book page, which can be found at www.facebook. com/pages/The-Apple-Gourd-Project. The plan is to expand the garden this season with the idea of adding some new vegetables. Wacek said in the future the hope is to add strawberries, asparagus and rhubarb to the garden.